Michi's First Two Beading Projects

I started a weekly Beading Class with my wonderful art teacher, Sylvia Valle, former instructional editor for Stampington for 11 years, who teaches at the local community center in Rancho Santa Margarita . . . some of her old (oops!!! FORMER students . . . FORMER students . . . not OLD students!!!! YIKES!!!! MY faux pas!!!!! LOL!!!!) students carpool all the way from Manhattan Beach in L.A. to take her classes . . . here are my first two projects . . . they are both bracelets using cube beads . . . but I decided to make the first one a watch . . .

The second bracelet was a lesson on increasing and decreasing rows . . . I have a feeling that this hobby could be ADDICTING!!!!! LOL!!!!!!

Ciao Y'all #9

Jeanne and Janice at St. Mark's Square . . .
St. Mark's Square . . . during high tide . . . sometimes it floods . . .
Our room at the Hotel Savoia and Jolanda right on the canal a short walk from St. Mark's Cathedral . . .

This was such an amazing vacation . . . it's a special one with all the sights, sounds, tastes, (oh, the food is divine!!!!! LOL!!!!) and experiences!!! I was so glad to experience it with my family . . .

Ciao Y'all #8

Time for a laugh stop . . . I thought we were the only countries with a 99 cent store . . . boy, was I surprised to see this . . . LOL!!!!
Here we are in a water taxi from the train station onward to our hotel in Venice . . . my sister, Janice . . . myself . . . my cousin, Jeanne . . . my sister, Norma . . . my brother-in-law, Bob . . .
Venice is a series of canals and islands build in a marshland . . . it is slowly sinking into the water and can actually have water in the sidewalks and plaza areas in high tide . . .

Lookie how close to the water this door is . . . it is totally amazing!!!!

Ciao Y'all #7

This was a tour to Chianti . . . this building is a former palazzo (palace) which is now a famous winery . . . it really looked like a palace . . .
What a magnificent view from the winery . . .
We were able to sit at tables in the winery to taste their wines . . .
This charming village is Greve in Chianti . . . instead of the town square being open for the public . . . this village has decided to make it a parking lot . . . land is so scarce here . . . the parking lot is very full . . .
This small church services Greve in Chianti . . .

Ciao Y'all #6

Our tour to Siena was fascinating . . . Siena was once a major center of money lending and trade . . . there are still many banking insitutions in Siena . . .
The duomo in Siena is majestic with beautiful gold leafing and sculptures . . .Inside the duomo . . . we were fortunate to have arrived in October when they uncover the protected art on the floors for us to view . . . it was simply fascinating . . .
Beautiful art is everywhere . . . the outside . . . the inside . . . the floors . . . the ceilings . . . the artifacts . . . they even have a space set aside for gifts from those who wish to leave an object of gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving their lives . . . I even saw motorcycle helmets in that area . . .

Caio Y'all #5 !!!!

This is a photo of my cousin, Jeanne, and my sister, Janice on the long uphill path in the quaint village of San Gimignano . . .
This is my brother-in-law, Bob, and his wife (my sister) Norma . . .
I was totally surprised at my older sister walking straight up to the top of the hill . . . Jeanne and I pooped out and ate a Gelato (Italian Ice Cream) YUM!! YUM!!!

Caio Y'all #4 !!!!

Here's a photo of my sister, Janice, in our room at the Hotel Berchielli on the Arno River about one-half a block from Ponte Vecchio . . . it was very nice . . . one of the cultural differences we noticed was that their wash clothes were made of linen instead of terry cloth . . . something we would not have thought of . . .

We walked to the train station many times to catch our tour buses . . . this time we went to Pisa where we saw the Piazza dei Miracoli . . . construction which began in 1063 . . .

This is only a "fair" pic of me "holding up" the Leaning Tower of Pisa . . . my sister took a better one, but it's still in her camera . . . there were lots of us tourists taking pictures like this one!!! LOL!!!